The skeptics on the Istanbul summit between Ukraine and Russia. Many in the past few hours have advanced doubts about the real intentions of the Kremlin and the composition of the Russian team in view of the Summit in Turkish land seems to confirm the hypotheses. Thursday the Moscow delegation should be led by the Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov And the presidential councilor for foreign policy will also be part of the group Yury Ushakov. There would therefore not be Vladimir Putin. This was reported by the APA APA news agency. The Kremlin has not yet provided official information on the composition of the delegation and has announced that “the composition will be communicated when the president will decide”.
In short, the Istanbul duel may not take place. A strong and clear message has already arrived from Kiev: if Putin will not be in Türkiye to meet the Zelensky counterpart, this would be the “definitive signal” of its unavailability to treat peace. This is stated in an official note of the Ukrainian presidency, the head of the staff of ZelenskyAndriy Yermak. For the moment no comments from the United States: high officials of the Trump administration should be Thursday in Istanbul for the talks, while the possible presence of the American president remains an unknown, being linked to the possible arrival in Turkey of Vladimir Putin, to whom few seem to believe. “At the moment it’s all very dynamic,” he said, mentioned by the CNN, a source of the administration, according to which “nobody knows very much” about what will happen in two days.
“Ukraine is open to any negotiating format with Russia, but the ceased the fire must be the first condition, the main”: this is the message of Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office: “We have confirmed that President Zelensky is ready and will be in Turkey. Yesterday the president Trump made a very strong and very clear statement, stating that he expects both leaders in Turkey. I also consider a visit. Vladimir Putin refused to come to Türkiye, it would be the definitive sign of the fact that Russia does not want to end this war, that Russia does not want negotiations nor is it ready“.
The climate is hot. Yesterday no opening came from Putin to the proposal of a cease-fire thirty days in Ukraine. The Kremlin firmly rejected the initiative launched last Saturday by the so -called “willing” group of international leaders supported by the former American president Donald Trump, who had linked the proposal to the threat of new penalties in case of refusal. “This is not the way to speak to Russia,” said the presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov dryly, stamping the ultimatum as “unacceptable”.
Returning to the Summit in Istanbul, Zelensky had welcomed the proposal with satisfaction, launching an appeal to the Kremlin: “I will be there. I hope that Russia also does not subtract from the meeting”. Kiev’s leader had also expressed his support for the Trump initiative for a ceased the “complete and unconditional” fire, contrary to the position taken by Moscow.
Meanwhile, in London, the European foreign ministers in the “Weimar+” format extended to Ukraine have gathered, including the owner of the Farnesina Antonio Tajani. Those present reaffirmed the need to keep the diplomatic pressure on Moscow high, while expressing “skepticism” on the real peace intentions of the Russian president, also in light of the umpteenth wave of attacks with drones against Ukrainian cities: 108 those launched in the night, one of which caused a victim to Sumy. “They are not signs that go in the right direction,” said Tajani.
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